1 Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a female element of a rapid coupling as well as to a rapid coupling for an installation for handling fluid under pressure which comprises, among other things, such a female element.
2 Description of the Related Art
In the field of removable joining of pipelines traversed by a fluid under pressure, it is known to use a female coupling element which comprises controlled means for locking a male element in the inserted configuration in the female element, that is to say, in the coupled configuration of the pipelines.
It is known from EP-A-1 531 297 to use locking fingers movable in translation in housings inclined with respect to the axis of insertion of the male and female elements one into the other. Each locking finger is equipped with a tab, protruding radially with respect to the body of the female element and intended to interact with a control ring for controlling the position of the locking finger. The control ring exerts on the tab of each locking finger efforts directed parallel to the insertion axis. In the known device, the displacement of the locking fingers in their housing presents difficulties. Indeed, since the efforts exerted by the control ring are directed parallel to the insertion axis, the locking fingers have a tendency to tilt in their housings. This tilting opposes the action of the control ring for engaging the locking fingers in the peripheral groove of the male element or for extracting them therefrom.
Moreover, FR-A-2 438 226 describes a female coupling element comprising locking fingers movable in inclined housings of a body of the female element. Each locking finger has a notch which defines a nose protruding radially with respect to the body of the female element, the nose being intended to co-operate with a control ring for controlling the displacement of the finger. However, in this device, the efforts exerted by the control ring on each finger are applied at the notch of the finger and tend to make the fingers more fragile during unlocking. U.S. Pat. No. 4,951,977 also describes a female coupling element in which a control ring for controlling the displacement of locking fingers acts at a notch of each finger. The result thereof is limited mechanical resistance of the locking fingers, as in the device described in FR-A-2 438 226.